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jew's-harp |
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jew's-harp or jews'-harp, musical instrument of ancient lineage composed of a small metal frame containing a flexible metal tongue. The frame is held between the teeth and the metal tongue is plucked with the fingers. Each jew's-harp can produce only one tone, the quality of which may be varied by modifying the shape of the mouth to emphasize different harmonics of the tone. The musical possibilities may be increased by the use of additional tongues, giving additional tones, and in the early 19th cent., particularly in Germany, jew's-harps were made with as many as 16 tongues. The instrument bears no traceable relationship to the Jewish people. It has also been called jaw's-harp, jew's-trump or jews'-trump. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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Oblivious to current trends, Cohen blissfully fills some songs with dated keyboards and sax fills, and inserts his own incongruous Jew's harp licks in the midst of others. Nowadays, Monk is primarily a vocal composer, although her music often deploys conventional instruments, from piano to Jew's harp. ``People really seem to love the hillbilly instruments,'' said Pasko, who mixes his accordion playing with spoons, washboard, Jew's harp and homegrown percussion instruments. |
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